Sam Nujoma Statue in the National Independence Memorial Museum Windhoek

The Independence Memorial Museum is a history

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

, the capital of

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It focuses on the anti-colonial resistance and the national liberation movement of Namibia. The museum is located on

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

Avenue and was designed and built by

Mansudae Overseas Projects Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the international commercial division of the Mansudae Art Studio. As of August 2011, it had earned an estimated U ...

, a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

n firm. It is one of four major public works Mansudae constructed in Namibia, the other three being Heroes' Acre,

Okahandja Military Museum Okahandja Military Museum is a military museum located in Okahandja, Namibia, which was supposed to exhibit a collection of military memorabilia from Namibia's history. The museum was built in 2004, but in 2008 it was reported to be still not o ...

and a new State House. The museum's appearance has been likened to that of a

potjie A Dutch oven, Dutch pot (US English), or casserole dish (international) is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron; however, some Dutch ovens are instead made of cast aluminium, or ...

, as well as a coffee pot and a

molar tooth The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone toot ...

. It is flanked by two statues: a statue of Namibia's first president,

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma ( ; 12May 19298February 2025) was a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and t ...

, and the

Genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

Memorial, both also built by Mansudae. The museum was inaugurated on March 20, 2014, the twenty-fourth anniversary of independence of the country, by President Hifikepunye Pohamba.

Naming

The name of the proposed museum was subject to considerable debate from the time of its proposal.

Usutuaije Maamberua Usutuaije Maamberua (born 5 August 1957) is a Namibian politician. He was the president of the South West Africa National Union (SWANU) from 2007 until 2017. Maamberua has served in the National Assembly of Namibia since 2010. Early life and edu ...

, president of South West Africa National Union (

SWANU The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo people, Ovambo party. Structure and le ...

), proposed the name "Genocide Remembrance Centre", in recognition of the site where it was built being known as ''Orumbo rua Katjombondi'', .

Location

The Independence Memorial Museum is located on Robert Mugabe Avenue between two buildings from the German colonial period, the Christuskirche and the colonial citadel, the

Alte Feste The Alte Feste () is a fortress and museum in downtown Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is situated in Robert Mugabe Avenue, next to the Independence Memorial Museum. History The building was designed by captain Curt von François, in order ...

. The museum sits on a small slope between the two structures, and according to the historian Reihard Kossler, has broken up the ensemble of German monuments in Windhoek. In sharp contrast to the German colonial architectural style of the existing historical structures, the Independence Memorial Museum is built in the North Korean socialist realist style, symbolic of the "modernist, post-colonial state."

Structure

The museum structure consists of a five-story triangular glass structure and was planned with four equal walls of reaching a height of at least . It features a glass-fronted elevator at its front.

Exterior

Sam Nujoma Statue

A bronze statue in the North Korean style commemorating

is placed prominently at the front of the museum. In the statue Nujoma faces towards Windhoek and holds a copy of the Constituency Book, the

Constitution of Namibia The Constitution of Namibia is the supreme law of the Republic of Namibia. Adopted on 9 February 1990, a month prior to Namibia's independence from apartheid South Africa, it was written by an elected constituent assembly. Preamble "Whereas ...

. It is located on the site of the Reiterdenkmal equestrian statue, which stood on the hill for 102 years. The Reiterdenkmal statue was considered controversial after the independence of Namibia; some in the country viewed it as symbol of colonial oppression. Others, primarily from the German-speaking community in Namibia, saw any alteration of the statue as a violation of the Namibian Heritage Act of 2004, which outlines the procedures to protect national heritage sites in Namibia. The Reiterdenkmal statue was removed in 2013 and is now located in the courtyard of the Alte Feste Museum.

Genocide Memorial

The Genocide Memorial sits south of the Nujoma statue. It depicts the 'untold hardships and suffering' at the hands of the

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned a ...

, the troops of the

German colonial empire The German colonial empire () constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies, and territories of the German Empire. Unified in 1871, the chancellor of this time period was Otto von Bismarck. Short-lived attempts at colonization by Kleinstaat ...

during the 1904–07 war. The statue depicts a man and woman in embrace, symbolizing freedom. The couple stand atop a rendering of a traditional Namibian residence. The concrete brick base of the memorial has the inscription "Their Blood Waters Our Freedom" in raised black letters.

Interior

Exhibits

The first floor, titled "Colonial Repression", commemorates early resistance leaders of Namibia and the timeline of the country under South African rule. The second floor, titled "Liberation", commemorates the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

and the role of the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the S ...

(PLAN) during that conflict. The third floor, titled "Road to Independence", details the activities of

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 United Nations Security Council Resolution 435, adopted on September 29, 1978, put forward proposals for a cease-fire and UN-supervised elections in South African-controlled South West Africa which ultimately led to the independence of Namibia. ...

, and includes a viewing platform of the Panoramic Hall of the museum.

Restaurant

The last floor (fourth floor) accessible by visitors houses a restaurant, known as the NIMMS (National Independence Memorial Museum), from which there are views over the city. The restaurant showcases a broad spectrum of Namibian culture including ornaments, clothing and books. Some of these items are up for sale.

References

{{Authority control Museums established in 2014 Buildings and structures in Windhoek Mansudae Overseas Projects Museums in Namibia National Monuments of Namibia Tourist attractions in Namibia 2014 establishments in Namibia